From owner-freebsd-hardware Tue Apr 4 13:47:44 2000 Delivered-To: freebsd-hardware@freebsd.org Received: from orion.ac.hmc.edu (Orion.AC.HMC.Edu [134.173.32.20]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id BE3AB37B77C for ; Tue, 4 Apr 2000 13:47:40 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from brdavis@orion.ac.hmc.edu) Received: (from brdavis@localhost) by orion.ac.hmc.edu (8.8.8/8.8.8) id NAA06254; Tue, 4 Apr 2000 13:47:29 -0700 (PDT) Date: Tue, 4 Apr 2000 13:47:29 -0700 From: Brooks Davis To: Daniel Eischen Cc: freebsd-hardware@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Connecting two sites with fiber Message-ID: <20000404134729.B23888@orion.ac.hmc.edu> References: <200004042020.QAA03707@pcnet1.pcnet.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii X-Mailer: Mutt 1.0pre4i In-Reply-To: <200004042020.QAA03707@pcnet1.pcnet.com>; from eischen@vigrid.com on Tue, Apr 04, 2000 at 04:20:16PM -0400 Sender: owner-freebsd-hardware@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk X-Loop: FreeBSD.org On Tue, Apr 04, 2000 at 04:20:16PM -0400, Daniel Eischen wrote: > > I've got a fiber connection between two buildings and need to setup > networks in each building so they can talk to each other at full-duplex > fast ethernet speeds. > > I know very little about fiber connections. The fiber cables are > labeled as follows: > > Chromatic Technologies 800 series 62 5/125 Optical Fiber Cable per > article 770 Type OFNP (UL) CSA LL82385 Type OFN-FT6 75C > > What is this telling me? Can I setup a FreeBSD router box on each > end with fiber (FDDI?) interfaces to each other? Is a switch on > each side an easier solution? Will this cable even support 100Mbps > full-duplex speeds between the two networks? > > We'd like to use the existing connection, as it would be more costly > to replace it (re-run wires underground). I'm not expert, but poking around with google in in my new Black Box catalog seems to indicate that you've got standard plenum rated multi-mode fiber. The "62 5/125" part probably refers to the standard 62.5um/125um glass. The OFNP is it's UL rating. Since it's plenum rated, it burns more slowly then normal plastic cable and the smoke is less toxic. This stuff should run 100Mbps no problem. You should be able to connect two NICs with multi-mode fiber trancievers (either onboard or external) or two switches with no problem. I don't think there is much fiber out there that doesn't do 100Mbps. You do often need better fiber to Gigabit Ethernet and you'll definatly need it for 10 Gigabit Ethernet in 2001. -- Brooks -- Any statement of the form "X is the one, true Y" is FALSE. To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-hardware" in the body of the message